Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Optima SCORE Desert Series Round 3: Tecate SCORE Baja 500 By BRIAN FARIS PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA ENSENADA, B.C. MEXICO, MAY 31-JQNE 2 ~ hings could not have gotten much U better for Team Honda at the 34th running of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500. The Class-22 red riders dominate this year's race, as Honda's two factory-backed XR650R-mounted teams went 1-2 overall. Steve Hengeveld and teammate Johnny Campbell had a fairly easy time of it, too, as they took the lead not far from the start and went on to take the win pretty much unchallenged, finishing well ahead of Honda's "B" team, made up of Andy Grider and Danny Cooper. The two Honda squads were the only teams (four-wheelers included) in the race to finish under the 10-hour mark. Hengeveld and Campbell stopped the clock at nine hours, 35 minutes and 54 seconds, while Grider and Cooper crossed the finish line in a time of 9:56:36. Hengeveld and Campbell's winning speed average was 49.34 mph, while Grider and Cooper's was 47.6 mph. The win was Hengeveld's third in a row at the Baja 500, and Campbell's third 500 win of his career. Hengeveld carried most of the load for the winning team, since Campbell isn't fully healed from his injuries suffered in a race in April. But Hengeveld was up to the challenge, amassing over 300 miles in the rugged race. "It [the course] was rougher than last year's," Hengeveld said. "Everything was all chewed up. I fell once and missed a turn and did a little boonie-bashing, but the bike did great all day." Campbell held his end of the bargain and rode well, as well, and was understandably happy to get on the bike for the first time with a comfortable lead, thanks to Hengeveld. "I was about 90 percent," Campbell said of his recuperation. "I need two more weeks to be 100 percent, which will lead right into the Nevada 1000. With a four-and-a-half-minute lead when I got the bike, I felt I didn't have to ride any faster. I had to open one gate, but I kept the bike running and didn't lose much time. I had fun. Sometimes you go faster when this happens." Hengeveld started for the winning team and was the second bike off the start line at 6:01 a.m. Right around the 20-mile mark, Hengeveld had put his XR650R into the physical lead and pulled out almost a five-minute lead by the time he handed the bike over to Campbell at 144 miles. From there, Campbell rode the "Mike's" loop, the southernmost portion of the course, and handed the bike back to Hengeveld near Valle de Trinidad. Hengeveld departed Valle de Trinidad and pointed the bike west towards the beach section. 42 JUNE 19, 2002' cue • • Steve Hengeveld racked up his third consecutive victory at the Tecate/SCORE Baja 500, though this was his first time with Johnny Campbell as partner. Their time 01 9:35:54 easily bested that 01 the first lour-wheeled vehicle. "The second time on the bike, I didn't want to make a mistake, so I took it easy," Hengeveld said. He took it easy enough to be able to enjoy the scenery. "There was a big swell and I could see the waves hitting [the rocks on the beach]." Hengeveld then headed towards Ojos Negros, where Campbell got back on the XR650R and rode the winning machine to the finish at Ensenada. Grider and Cooper's ride went nearly as smoothly, but they did have one scare. The team started off fifth and had control of second early in the race by Guadalupe Wash, but Grider n e vv s overshot the Honda pits, unable to see it through the dust. As a result, he lost second place, but Cooper got it back during his first stint on the bike, and the team never again let second out of their grip. Grider got back on and headed to the beach, where he had to be cautious because of the big ocean swell. "I backed off because of all the coast traffic, due to the big swell," Grider said. Cooper finished off their team's ride, bringing the XR650R in for second place. Cooper said that his ride didn't go without a couple of glitches. "I just rode and hoped for the best," Cooper said. "I went down once in aJI that silt." He also rode the Trinidad loop with no rear brake. After all was said and done. Honda's veteran Baja guru Bruce Ogilvie looked like a gunny sergeant who's platoon had just returned from a long tour of duty. "I'm very pleased," Ogilvie said. "We had a good day. We had little problems, but we took care of them." Not only did Honda finish 1-2 in the race, but XR650R-mounted riders filled out the top five positions. Craig Smith, Aaron Tuck and Chris Blais put their XR650R into third overall, finishing the race in 10:00:07. With 100 miles left in the race, the trio was nine minutes back but couldn't make up any ground in an end-of-the-race charge. The fourth motorcycle to finish in Class 22 was the Kevin Mayes/Phillip Zeiger/Chuck Dempsey XR650R, as they finished out the race in 10:50:03, 11 minutes ahead of the fifth-place team, the Quinn Cody XR650R entry. In Class 21 (250cc Pro), Dayton Raper led his Martin Bejarano team to the class win in eighth overall, stopping the clock at 11 :14:07. Teaming with Bejarano, Eric Brown and David Grunland, Raper went from 26th to 10th before handing the bike off to GrunJand. Brown, who rode the coast section, said, "We had to re-jet and lost about 10 minutes cleaning a clogged air filter, but our Kawasaki was brand new and very fast." Eddie Zeller and Eric Hingeley, aboard a Yamaha YZ250, finished 44 minutes behind the Bejarano entry. The Zeller team reported that one of their riders was unfortunate enough to get caught by a "booby trap," and suffered a hard get-off, but they were able to finish. The Team Caveman XR650R entry, made up of Richard Jackson and Bob Wadlow, brought in their pumped-up Honda in 11:37:18 for 12th overall and first place in Class 50. Jackson and Wadlow's only class competition, cousins Ricardo and David Flores, did not finish. Afterward, Jackson looked a little worse for the wear at the finish. "The course is really chewed up and that silt takes a lot of effort," Jackson said. "You couldn't let your guard down for a minute. I fell four times bringing it in." The results in Class 30 and 40 had one thing in common - Jim O'Neal. In his quest to capture two class championships for the year, O'Neal was the rider of record for both class entries, and both of O'Neal's teams took class wins. However, O'Neal did very little riding on either team. The 55-year-old rider suffered head and shoulder injuries when he fell down a 25-foot ravine while pre-running the course on Wednesday. SCORE rules require that the rider of record must either start or finish the race to receive points. O'Neal, the defending

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